Compassionate, capable, and caring co-workers is the subject of this week’s Feel-Good Friday.
Radiology tech Marty Baham had arrived to work at UChicago Medicine AdventHealth GlenOaks to begin what for him was probably another typical day at the hospital. However, this day he would suffer a catastrophic event; one that many do not come back from. Baham suffered an aortic dissection in his renal artery. This artery extends from the left side of the heart, and travels down the chest all the way to the kidneys.
Most people don’t survive such a tear, but this 58-year-old did, thanks largely to fast action by his GlenOaks colleagues, the skills of a UChicago Medicine cardiovascular surgical team, and subsequent support from his brother, fellow team members and other friends.
“This is true divine intervention,” said Donna Fitzpatrick, GlenOaks director of radiology.
Fitzpatrick credited GlenOaks CT technologists Tiffany Spino and Aiman Madani for playing key roles in Baham’s survival. When Madani arrived for work at GlenOaks on Monday, Aug. 26, he happened to park next to Baham’s car and noticed that Baham appeared to be asleep in the driver’s seat. Madani alerted Spino, who was preparing to leave work. Knowing Baham was supposed to start his shift soon, she went out to the parking lot, assessed his condition and quickly called the hospital’s emergency department to request a gurney.
“Initially, I thought he was sleeping,” said Spino, a longtime friend of Baham who was concerned about his well-being because of the blistering heat that day. “I said to him, `What are you doing? You’re going to die of heat stroke.’’’ Baham opened his eyes, looked confused and tried to speak but slurred his words. That’s when Spino called for help, fearing he was having a stroke.
Once Baham was rushed inside the ER, Madani performed a CT scan that revealed the aortic dissection. More detailed CT scans were performed on Baham’s chest, abdomen and pelvis, revealing the extent of the dissection.
He soon was airlifted by helicopter to UChicago Medicine [hospital] in Hyde Park for emergency surgery, which lasted more than eight hours.
His co-worker Madani’s quick thinking no doubt saved Baham’s life. Granted, these are medical professionals, so it’s often part of the package. However, what distinguishes good doctors and nurses from the rest is their instinct and their skill in knowing when something is critical and how to address it. It is those minute decisions that make the difference between life or death. That, coupled with the caring and collegial relationship that Madani and Baham appear to have, is one of the reasons Baham’s life was spared. Sadly, these types of relationships are not found in every workplace, let alone a hospital.
In August 2024, I wrote about the tragic story of Denise Prudhomme, a Wells Fargo employee in the Phoenix area, who clocked into work at 7:00 a.m. on a Friday, and never clocked out. Prudhomme was found four days later, only because people on the floor complained of a foul smell. Prudhomme was discovered when another employee walked by her cubicle and saw Prudhomme slumped over her desk and unresponsive. The employee called security, and security called 9-1-1, where first responders pronounced her dead at the scene.
Two months later, an autopsy revealed that Prudhomme had a heart attack, caused by scar tissue around her heart. Who knows if a coworker had been present, attentive, and took action to help her, whether Prudhomme would be alive today.
This sad tale had many overarching themes, one of them being the state of loneliness that exists in the workplace, and the lack of care and follow-through from employers. Thankfully, Baham, and his co-workers at UChicago Med GlenOaks hospital do not appear to have that problem. His co-workers’ commitment–to see Baham not just saved, but healed–went beyond ensuring he had the proper care to ensuring he was also recuperating well:
After spending more than three weeks recuperating at the hospital, Baham was discharged to a rehabilitation hospital. During his time at the hospital, Spino and Brittney Mollicone, a UChicago Medicine AdventHealth GlenOaks ultrasound technologist, visited with him and stayed in touch regularly. The UChicago Medicine AdventHealth GlenOaks radiology team is a tightknit group. “It’s like a family,” Baham said. “We’re constantly doing stuff for each other.”
Spino, Mollicone and Baham emphasized that the emergency care he received at UChicago Medicine AdventHealth GlenOaks that day was the same high level of care that anyone in his situation would receive at the hospital. “This is what we do every day,” Baham said.
Fitzpatrick, though, said Baham’s survival hinged on more than excellent medical care. “This is about the spirit in this place, about living the mission and it coming to life,” she said. “Helping out your coworkers like that is not above and beyond. It’s just who we are. The compassion and dedication shown to Marty, even when the situation seemed impossible, is exactly what we’re here to do – to care for the whole person: body, mind and spirit.”
Perhaps the staff at UChicago Medicine AdventHealth GlenOaks should be a MAHA pilot project for how to not only keep people alive, but to care for the holistic individual, whether they are a patient or the person you work next to.
